Gravity actuated mechanical toy



Nov. 25-, 1958 x R. M ART IN 2,861,390

GRAVITY- ACTUATED MECHANICAL TOY Filed 'June 22 1956 Richard Mar fin INVEN TOR.

United States Patent This invention relates to :amusement devices andparticularly to amusement devices which may be classified as toys.

object of the present invention is togtprovide an amusement device forboth adultsgand children vwherein thepull of gravity is used-toprovide-the 'mode =of. force necessary to cause the toy to perform,thegperformance being a series of motions, movementsjand .gyrations,that -follow-a general pattern of oscillations. and translations. --Moreexplicitly, the toy is so constructed that eitris :in'itially supportedon an inclined'plane surface by a Ecenter protrusion on the bottom, :orbase, -of-the 'toy.and. any point on the outer edge of 'a disk thatrises. from-the bottom,or base, and when set in :motionias bytapping:gently-or relying on the'vertical. component of .-the:gravitationalforce available on lan"incline.d1 plane surface, it tipsslightly so that it rolls on the circularrz'rim 2,861,390 Patented Nov.25, 1958 .;c'onstruction .and operation as more fullyi hereinafterdescribed :and' claimed, :reference being bad to the j a'c .cQmanyingadraWings,gforming a-part hereof, wherein like numerals refertoxlike parts:throughouheand in 5 -which: Y

xsFigure *lsiis aiperspective.view of attoy which has :been

'constructed in :accordance with: the "principles cof ithe invention,this toy being shown :in its operative condition that.-is, imountedon-an-iinclined; plane surface an'dishowdefined by the edge of thebottom of the toy and the face, even if only an extremely smallfraction. of aninch atsome part of the oscillatory movement of 'the'toy. When the toy reaches the top of its swing the center of gravity ofthe toy is approximately vertically over the center protrusion andtherefore the toy commences to settle down, momentarily resting on theedge of the disk, this resting point being the sole support of the toy.Because of the high rotary inertia of the toy it continues revolvingabout this point of support so that the center of the toy swing-sslightly forward as it continues to settle downwardly on the inclinedplane surface. The toy is now supported on the center protrusion and theedge of the disk and is ready to oscillate in the opposite direction.Accordingly, the toy has moved a short distance down the inclined planeand due to inertia of the toy is ready to begin an oscillation on theinclined plane surface in the opposite direction from the firstdescribed operation.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a toy that hasbeen made in accordance with the above, wherein the disk thatconstitutes a part of the bottom of the toy is eccentric with respect tothe longitudinal axis of the body and the protrusion that rises from thesurface of the disk. In this way the toy is caused to face generally inone direction, whereby if the toy is made as a caricature of an animalor a human being or any other object which has normally a front and arear, the direction of motion down the inclined plane is automaticallysuch as to have the toy facing in the front direction.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a toy capable ofproviding amustment for children and adults, the toy beingmanufacturable at an extremely low cost and being susceptible toassuming many forms and configurations so that a large variety ofdifferent appearing toys may be presented, each embodying the sameprinciples of operation.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of ring in ;phantom 'xlin'es:itwo xextremes .in the oscillatory ;movement :ofithe toy;

Figure=2 is adongitudinal sectional view of theztoy of Figure 1;

:Figure:3 is .a bottom' -view .of-ithe toy. in:Figure 2; Figure .4' :isa: Tfragmentaryisectional view showing the toy .in its initial or"starting position, resting on the protrusion and a part-zof I the vedgeof- 'the disk on the bottom ofrthe toy;

'Figure '5 is1a'fragm'entarysectional 'view showinganother stage in oneoscillation of the toy, this other'stage -'being after the toy 'h'as'been set in motion, this view illustrating principally that the toyoscillates onthe rim of .the bottommnd the circular 'Ledge c'ofthe diskthat constitutes :a .part of the: bottom,-=;and;

--Figure -6 :is a fragmentary :sectional view showing the 'toyas itreachesthe top Eof-its oscillatory swing, the toy-momentarily resting onthe edge; of the ;disk,-this .constituting the solesupport -for the-toy.atgthis instant.

.Inorder to .demonstrate the principles 'of the invention, there is aninclinedtplanesurface lotillustrated, this surface being .intheform,.of, a tilted table .top,-board .or

other improvised panel. -By selection of a material. or a coveringffor..the.rnate'rial having arcoefiicientof frictionamia'ble 'tofthefbottomo'fthe toy; the ,panel on which the 'toy is operative maybe used to enharice 't hemot'ions of thetoy. For exarripleya toy constructed of brittlematerial, as a synthetic resin such as Bakelite together with a steelprotrusion has been found to operate extremely satisfactorily on aplywood panel. Although the same toy will operate on a smoother surfaceor on a rougher or on a surface having a higher coefficient of friction,better results were obtained on the wood panel.

Toy 12 is constructed as a person, but it is to be understood that thetoy may be constructed in simulation, mock simulation or caricature ofany animal, person or object. The specific illustration involves a body14 that may be molded plastic, papier mache or other preferablylightweight materials. The body has a longitudinal axis on which theneck 16 and head 18 are located and through which the center pin 20passes. This center pin may be of metal, wood or other materials andterminates in a protrusion or point 30, after passing through thebottom, or base, 32 of the toy. The bottom may be formed integral withthe remainder of the body as a separate part and cemented or otherwisejoined thereto. This is an important part of the toy 12 and consists ofa circular member having a circular rim 40 and the protrusion 30 in itsaxis and a bottom surface 41 from which circular disk 42 protrudes. Thedisk is of a thickness greater than the length of protrusion 30, butonly slightly so. The circular edge 50 of disk 42 constitutes a linecontact seat for the toy during its normal operation. The bottom of thetoy is made rather heavy with respect to the remainder of the toy, andthe toy is so constructed that the center of gravity of it is ratherhigh. In this way the rotary inertia of the toy as it is in operationremains sufficiently high to keep the toy in continuous oscillatory andtransitory motion.

In operation, the toy is placed at rest on the inclined plane surfaceand is supported by the center projection 30, as a point, and on theedge 50 of the inner circle which is defined by the edge of disk 42.This condition is shown in Figure 4 and at 3. this instant the rim 40 iscompletely separated from the supporting surface. By having the disk 42eccentric of the body of the toy (Figure 3) the normal rest positionwill be with the front of the toy. facing downwardly of the supportingsurface (see Figure l) and the toy will maintain in general thisattitude during the motions'thereof. y V

The toy may be set in motion in two ways. tapped gently forcing it toswing in one direction or it may be set in motion automatically by thevertical component of the gravitational pull, as by tilting thesupporting surface slightly in excess of the inclination required ing.In either case the toy tips slightly forward and rolls on edge 50 andrim 40 simultaneously. This condition is portrayed in Figure 5, thisfigure showing clearly that the protrusion 30 is preferably. separatedfrom the supporting surface 10. As the toy rolls, for example to theleft s s own n Figure 1, it rolls on the rim 40 and edge 50 until itreaches the top of its oscillatory swing at which position the centerprotrusion begins to settle down, the toy momentarily or instantaneouslyresting on the edge 50 alone.

However, due to the high rotary inertia the toy continues revolvingabout this point on edge 50 so that the center of the toy, for exampleas defined by protrusion 30, swings slightly forwardas. it settles ontosurface 10 in order to reach the starting position (Figure 4) again.However, this starting position is at the top of an oscillatory swing ofthe toy and there is available in the toy enough potential energy toswing the toy again in a second stage of operation, this second stagebeing a second oscillatory swing in the opposite direction. Accordingly,in its gyrations, the toy swings in a direction generally transverse tothe inclination of surface 10'and at the same time rotates slightly. Atthe top of the swing the toy roma be to keep the toy inoperation once itcommences oscillat- Y? toy commences to swing in the opposite directionfollowing the same procedure as previously described.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention asclaimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows: 7

In combination, a downwardly inclined panel and a gyrating toy thereonhaving an upright elongated body, and means on said body engageable withsaid panel and adapting said body to oscillate on the panel betweenlimits of oscillatory movement under pull of gravity and to rotateaboutits longitudinal axis in response to such oscillation, said meanscomprising a circular fiat bottom on said body having a circular bottomedge concentric to said axis, a protuberance depending from said bottomin said axis, anda flat disk fixed on and depending from said bottomeccentrically of the same and having a bottom edge below said circularedge eccentric to said protuberance and spaced inwardly of said circularedge and on which and said circular edge said body is oscillatablebetween said limits and tiltable in opposite directions on saideccentricedge and rotatable in said limits to lower and lift saidprotuberance onto and off said panel, re-

spectively, and revolve the protuberance downwardly of thepanel foroscillation of said body on said eccentric edge and the loweredprotuberance in said limits and gravitational rotation of said bodydownwardly of the panel on said eccentric edge when the protuberance israised.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,471,528 Kling May 31, 1949

